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Synopsis

Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson star in this inspiring film based on the bestseller about Liesel, (Sophie Nélisse), a girl adopted by a German couple (Rush and Watson) who hide a Jew (Ben Schnetzer) from Hitler's army. Soon Liesel discovers that words and imagination provide an escape from the events unfolding around her family in this extraordinary film directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey).

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4.5

2,069 total

5 1,433

4 392

3 126

2 52

1 66

Wesley Morris

The movie lacks the nerve to treat death as anything more menacing than the tooth fairy.

David Denby

Markus Zusak's enormously successful young-adult novel seems to have been adapted as a movie for middle-aged children.

Tom Long

"The Book Thief" may not be perfect, but it may steal your heart.

Nancy Churnin

Pretty visuals give an unexpectedly painful twist to other parts of the story.

Moira MacDonald

You just wonder if this film's audience might be happier at home, curled up with a book. "The Book Thief," perhaps.

Ty Burr

A tale of WWII Germany as seen through the eyes of a young girl, "The Book Thief" is unobjectionable, sentimental, and not a little dull.

Critic reviews

Wesley Morris

The movie lacks the nerve to treat death as anything more menacing than the tooth fairy.

Pretty good! I read the book as well. The book was really good. The movie left out a lot of details and events which made the movie short in my opinion, but it was still good. It was nice to see the characters come alive.

Great movie!!! The story takes you back to the 1940's ...gives you a feeling, a taste on how bad things were during world war 2. Yet people still managed very well to get through. It's a great story, I truly enjoyed it. I wish I prepared myself a head of time with a box of tissues because the end sure made me cried.

So sad inspiring I love it so much so amazing so sad at the end i balled i couldnt stop my favorite characters were lisel and rudy and how he tried to kiss her ahh i loved it definitely go buy it its worth it 😄💛💙💜💚❤

Mixed emotions. It's quite frustrating when you love and hate a movie at the same time. I absolutely love the story! But I also hate all the sadness. All in all, great movie. I will be buying this movie and book sometime.

Slow but lovely If you're looking for an adventure this isn't your best bet, but if you are looking for a simple period drama to watch with older kids this is great. I say older kids because there's are some beatings and dead bodies as well as more complicated dialogue. Also, this is a "heartfelt" film so it's neither completely happy or completely sad in character. The acting was great and it does a lot to vindicate the German people during this era. Plus it's based on a true story! I'd watch it again!

Very good WW2 drama It has a brief but traumatizing scene of Nazi men realistically beating a young Jewish woman and her family in the street outside their store. I find that scene very disturbing, it crosses the line with me (men violently hurting women), we don't need to see that. Although it is accurate to what happened to very many people by the Nazis. Other than that, I found it to be a very powerful, captivating and at times beautiful movie.

KIDS; COURAGE AND HEART BRAVO! Loveable, courageous children in a time of terrifying oppression. Recognizing the treasure and freedom of knowledge in books. AND MORE IMPORTANT- why dictators and regimes destroy art/books: because Ideas are more contagious and enduring than any hate or totaltarian Regime. BEAUTIFUL; ENGAGING, BRAVO!

Amazing. No, Astonishing. I can't wait to read the book next, it's definitely a must own in High Definition. - So incredibly well thought out and an astounding presentation ---- possibly my favorite movie of the year. (* very realistic portrayal by all Actors and Actresses who starred in it.) I just loved the storytelling aspect done through the incredible vision of the Director! Awesome. Truly Remarkable!

Really? Why did this movie have to be in English? Horrible choice. To make it worse, characters would go from singing Nazi chants/songs in German, then transition into English the very next scene. Thank you for dumbing down such great material for people who don't like to read subtitles. This is what is wrong with filmmakers today. A great film to watch—and the way The Book Thief should have been made— is Flame and Citrone, check that out! The Book Thief is a great book, horrible movie.

Sad ending I watched the movie and at first I was confused but then I started to get into it and I was really sad at the end. I would tell you why but I don't want to be a spoiler alert. Anyway, very good movie.

LOVE IT I LOVED how it had to do with history if the holocaust. A girl at a young age experiencing this. I love how their was a little flirting with Rudy, and LIesel. It was super cute. But also had history in it. It was an amazing book, and movie. BEST SELLER

&lt;3 This movie made me cry like a child the firs and second time I've seen it awesome story and the way they told the story! Just awesome!!! And the girl wow she was really good and the way she was growing up it was amazing!!!

Left out alot I read the book recently and one thing I dont like about the movie is that death (the character) is not as prominent in the movie as I feel he should be and it's missing a lot of important detail. Wasn't the best but the story itself is amazing so I give it 4 stars.

Amazing and full of impact The critics actually gave this movie low ratings due to lengthiness. We didn't listen and went to see it due to the plot, and the movie blew the wind out of us. It was powerful enough to make us feel deprived of air by the end, which never ever happened to me before in a movie

Great movie Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, this movie was phenomenal. I enjoyed the beautiful yet doomed story and characters. All the smotions frlt real and i doubt you wont get attched to the amazing characters. Honestly, this is one of three movies that have moved me to tears.

Historical Drama Watched it with my wife and daughter. So many teachable moments. Very well written, casted and superbly acted. Keeps you on the edge of your seat and pulls you in and through to the very end. A sheer delight. Will remember for quite some time and highly recommend.

Why? And you can't rent this movie because... This is so frustrating I only have the option to buy!!! Now, I'm not going to go whine like a ten year old girl, but I'm just saying this just ruined my day. I bet it's a good movie, oh, but wait... I CAN'T RENT IT!

Love the movie I saw this on new years eve and was waiting for it to be available on Google play yeah I finally out , unfortunately I don't have enough money in my account to buy it but mark my words I'll buy a gift card soon.. :D

Book vs. Movie This movie changed the whole entire book--they took out all of my favorite parts in the book, they changed the order in which events happened, and Liesel "borrows" books?! What? A few of my favorite details from the novel: Liesel and Max's nightmares and how that brought them together; Liesel and Rudy stealing food; the parade of Jews and Hans giving a piece of bread to a Jew; WHY Rudy and Liesel's fathers were forced to go away to war; Rudy and Liesel sneaking to give Jews bread in another Jew parade just like Hans had previously done; HOW/WHY Hans survived the truck flipping over in the war; the WHOLE ENTIRE accordion story and how Hans survived the first war he was in; uhhhhhh, as you can see I am going on a rant right now. The part that bugged me most about the movie was how Liesel was like barely sad when her parents and Rudy died--I mean come on, please show some emotion!!!

Best movie ever! It was 1 more week of school left and my teacher said we were gonna watch a movie, and this was the movie! I thought it was gonna be boring but it wasn't it was.........THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!!! Please watch the trailer you'll be touched. Trust me &lt;3

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